Seven of Northern Ireland’s water-based sport national governing bodies have come together to tackle the growing issue of polluted water in the region.
The Clean Water Sports Alliance NI represents over 22,000 club members and 300,000 participants.
With six out of seven Olympic medals from NI athletes at Paris 2024 coming in water-based events, it is a crucial aspect of performance sport across the country.
The alliance currently comprises representatives from Swim Ulster, Paddle NI, Rowing Ireland NI Branch, RYA Northern Ireland, Ulster Angling Federation, National Coarse Fishing Federation Ireland (NCFFI) and Triathlon Ireland, with the support of the NI Sports Forum.
Representatives are meeting at Stormont today, Wednesday 2 April to lobby for the three ‘asks’ of their campaign:
- A long-term funding commitment put in place to improve water quality and regulation
- Investment into real-time water quality monitoring equipment
- Advocating a change from ‘bathing waters’ to ‘recreation waters’ within government policy to recognise the wide range of activities that depend on clean water
The Rivers Trust’s State of Our Rivers report in 2024 revealed that no river stretch or lake in Northern Ireland met ‘good’ or greater status, highlighting the need for firm and immediate action on the issue.
